Quill Loss but not Mites??

[Kristin]

Hello, I have searched online and the archives about what could also cause quill loss and I am still stumped. Boo, my mother hedgehog (babies are all weaned for a good month now) continues to lose quills. She has had 2 skin scrapings, both negative to mites and the Vet thought it could be hormonal, but it has now been a long time and I would have thought it would stop by now. She did have an ear infection and is being treated for that, can that cause quill loss??

I am worried and if it doesn't stop i want to take her in again next week, but i am discouraged because i have already brought this up at the vet and she didn't seem to have an answer for me. Could it be fungal and if so how would i tell?

Her diet is Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Lite, should I mix it with something that she is lacking? I am really at a loss. I thought she had made it back to health and now this wont clear up and i am worried. She still eats and plays regularly and has kept her weight at a consistent 308 grams for the last month.

Her two babies I have kept are also on this diet and seem to be very normal and healthy, only quill loss for them has been their quilling. I re-homed the third and she is doing quilte well also.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! thanks so much!

[Amy1024]

How many quills is she losing? And do you see any patches of missing quills? Some hedgies can continuously lose quills. If you don't see any patches of missing quills, usually that's okay.

And again congratz to your little family!

[Kristin]

Well today actually looks much better, I only found 4 in her pen and none came off while I gave her her ear medicine. The other night she lost like 15 and she seemed to really want to scratch. She only has one back leg though and I wonder if she can't itch where she wants so I have started "rubbing" her down during handling sessions especially around her left ear, the same side she is missing her leg and developed the ear infection in, and this has seemed to cut down on how much she is trying to itch... The vet also said she is no older than a year so maybe she is goin through a late quilling that i have read about. No bald patches though and i see the new quills already coming in from where she looses them.

Thanks for the congratulations, I love my little family of darlings, now it is time for Mama to get well! So hopefully it is what you said and "normal" but she did not loose quills like this back in February when I first got her so that is why i am a bit alarmed at the present!

[Sarahg]

Originally Posted by Kristin

She has had 2 skin scrapings, both negative to mites

I think that mites don't always show up on skin scrapings. You might want to treat with Revolution just to be sure.

[Kristin]

Are there possible negative side effects if I treat with the revolution and she doesn't have the mites? I have tried looking really closely at her skin and i don't see any movement, but can they be UNDER the skin? Sorry for all teh questions, just not familiar with the treatment, I will ook it up in the archives! Thanks for the advice.

Ps- I once took in a boy rescue who was covered in white small bugs, were those mites or lice? I went to the pet store and treated him with a spray that worked really well, but that was many years ago. With Boo i see nothing but on Buddy, they were quite noticeable.

[Kristin]

Can you Purchase Kitten Revolution over the counter or will i need to see the vet? Thanks again!

[Lilysmommy]

There's no side effects from treating with Revolution, even if there's no mites. All it can do is help if she does have mites. The reason so many people on this forum prefer using Revolution is because it also can't be overdosed, which is nice.

I've read posts on the forum saying you can order Revolution online, or buy it from a vet without a prescription, but in my experience, I had to get it as a prescription from Lily's usual vet. I tried asking my dog's vet (they're closer) if I could get it from them, and they told me that since they don't treat small animals, and hadn't seen her, they couldn't prescribe it for her.
However, with her usual vet, I could just call the vet and ask for a prescription, and because he'd already seen her twice since I got her, they were able to prepare a prescription for me and my mom picked it up on her way home from work. It's also not that expensive, I pay about $14 or so for enough to treat her four times.

[Kristin]

Perfect! Thank you so much for the info! I will call her Vet tomorrow!

[Kristin]

Update:

Vet said again that she looks good and looks like it is due to a late quilling. The new quills are quite visible and the vet thinks she was younger than even she had guessed (thankfully the birth all went well). She said the scratching was due to the quills coming in. So I am very relieved and gave her an oatmeal bath and that has really seemed to sooth her. At this time, still no Revolution. Since the last posting I have only found about 7 more shed, which is much better than last week!

Thanks for the advice!

[shadowHH]

think its called revo..the selemectin. It works.
FEED: Try hamor hollow's mix. seems to work ok for heidi.
25 I think for TWO bags,shipped.

I find that ANY quill loss is abnormal through experience. Docs have said that some is normal, but with heidi if a lot fall out, they dont grow back. I find that quill loss is cause of mites or FLEAS..so YES it is parasite..Might be skin infection, tho and cipro will fix that.
HAVE NOT noticed quill loss(or any quills lying round) otherwise.

..and she had a spot on her back that will not grow back because one of my older vets refused to give her mite/flea treatment in past. After three visits and getting niowhere, I went somewhere else. Fixed the issue in less that a week with selemectin.